Fogless shower mirror system

ABSTRACT

The present specification discloses a mirror assembly having an image viewing surface which resists fogging caused by condensation of water vapor on the viewing surface and a fogless mirror system comprising such a mirror assembly and an attachment system as well as methods and uses for such mirror assembly and fogless mirror system.

This application is a continuation that claims the benefit of priorityand is entitled to the filing date pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S.Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/289,086, filed Feb. 28,2019, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

A. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to mirrors of the type used by people asan aid to performing personal grooming tasks such as shaving. Moreparticularly, the invention relates to a fogless shower mirror whichincludes a mirror assembly that is removable from a support bracket andhas a multi-compartment water reservoir which is manually fillable withwarm water from a shower head, or other such source, and re-attachableto the support stand, the warm water warming a mirror plate mounted tothe mirror assembly to thus resist formation of image-foggingcondensation droplets on the reflective surface of the mirror plate.

The novel design of the multi-compartment water reservoir of the presentinvention affords increased efficiency of heat transfer from warm waterto a reflective mirror plate of the system, thus increasing the timeduration that the mirror plate remains fogless and also decreasessubstantially the time required to fill and re-fill the mirror with warmwater. The fogless shower system according to the present invention alsohas an attachment system that includes a wall-mount suspension bracketthat facilitates attaching the mirror assembly at various selectedheights to the wall of a shower enclosure, removing the mirror assemblyto fill it with warm water, and re-attaching the mirror assembly to thebracket, an internal illuminator powered by an internal rechargeablebattery, and a squeegee for cleaning the surface of the mirror.

B. DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND ART

A significant number of people utilize mirrors while showering tofacilitate performance of personal care functions such as shaving.However, the use of mirrors in showers was in the past relativelylimited, because the warm moist air within a shower enclosure tends toquickly condense on the surface of any mirror used in the shower,obscuring an image of a person's face reflected from the mirror surfaceso completely as to render the mirror practically useless within a fewminutes after a shower has begun.

In response to the problem of moisture condensing on a mirror surfaceand thereby limiting the usefulness of mirrors in high humidlyenvironments, such as shower enclosures and other locations within abathroom, the present inventor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,468,issued Mar. 29, 1988, a “fogless” mirror which is highly resistant toformation of condensation droplets on the surface of the mirror. Thefogless mirror disclosed in the '468 patent utilizes warm water tappedfrom the warm water supply pipe to a shower head, to heat the surface ofthe mirror. Since water vapor in a shower is produced largely byevaporation, the water vapor is always somewhat cooler than the warmwater supplied to the shower head. And, since water vapor will condenseonly on surfaces which are at lower temperature than the vapor, heatingthe surface of the mirror precludes fogging of the mirror. Therefore,the fogless mirror disclosed in the present inventor's '468 patentproved to be a highly effective solution to the problem of bathroommirror fogging, and mirrors utilizing the teachings of that patent havebeen widely marketed and used.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,475, Daniels, Non-Fogging Shower Mirror discloses anon-fogging shower mirror which has generally the shape of a hollowrectangular box which has on a front wall thereof a rectangularreflective mirror plate. The back wall of the box is penetrated near thetop edge of the wall by a fill hole for receiving warm water from afaucet, when the mirror is unhooked from suction cups which areattachable to a shower wall used to support the box with the mirrorvertically oriented. A small cross-section exit port in a bottom wall ofthe box allows water to drain slowly from the hollow interior space ofthe box, which serves as a water reservoir.

Because the cross-sectional shape of the water reservoir disclosed inDaniels is uniform, the weight of water required to fill the reservoirincreases in direct proportion to the size of the mirror used, and thuspotentially causes the suction cup or other support mounting elements tofail. Also, the design of the Daniel's fill port inherently requiresthat it be small relative to other dimensions of the mirror reservoirbox, making filling or manual emptying of the reservoir relatively slow.In response to limitations of prior art non-fogging shower mirrors ofthe type identified above, the present inventor created an improvedFogless Shower Mirror which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,746,901,issued on Jun. 10, 2014.

In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/193,079, now U.S. Pat. No.10,117,499 the present inventor disclosed an automatically fillablefogless shower mirror that is both manually fillable and automaticallyfillable by means of an adapter connectable to a warm water supply pipe.

The present invention was created to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that has improved heat transfer characteristics which increasethe time duration that the mirror may be used before becoming fogged,more quickly and easily fillable and re-fillable with warm water,quickly and easily removable and attachable at various selected heightsto a shower enclosure wall, and proved with an internal illuminator thatis effective in illuminating objects such as a person's face located infront of the mirror, and powered by an internal rechargeable barrier,and a squeegee for cleaning the reflective surface of the mirror.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that includes a mirror assembly which has a reflective mirrorplate that has a rear surface which thermally conductively contacts awater reservoir that is fillable with warm water to thus heat the frontsurface of the reflective mirror plate to a temperature higher than thatof water vapor in a shower enclosure, thereby preventing foggingcondensation of water vapor in a shower enclosure on the mirror surface,the mirror assembly including a multi-compartment water reservoir thatis contained in a rectangular frame that occupies a substantial fractionof the rear side of a housing of the mirror assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that has improved heat transfer characteristics that decrease thetime it takes for the mirror to defog before use and increase the timeduration that the mirror may be used before becoming fogged.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that includes a mirror assembly which has a water reservoircomprised of a vertically arranged series of laterally elongatedrectangularly shaped reservoir compartments that each have a rearrectangular-outline entrance opening for receiving warm water, and afront rectangular opening located at a lower elevation than the rearopening for conducting a downwardly angled rectangular cross-sectioncolumn of warm water in each compartment into contact with the rearsurface of a reflective mirror plate of the mirror assembly.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that includes a mirror assembly which has located in a rearrectangular housing part thereof a water reservoir comprised of avertically arranged series of compartments that each have a rearentrance opening for receiving water, and a front opening for conductingwater in the compartment into contact with the rear surface of areflective mirror plate of the mirror assembly, and thin, laterallyelongated slits between front edges of a pair of upper and lower baffleplates that form each compartment and the rear surface, the mirrorplate, the slits enabling water from upper compartments to flowdownwardly on the rear surface of the mirror plate to lowercompartments.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that includes a mirror assembly which has a water reservoircomprised of a vertically arranged series of laterally elongatedrectangular compartments, each of which has an upper wall consisting ofan upper downwardly angled baffle plate and a lower wall consisting of alower downwardly angled baffle plate, the front laterally disposed edgesof the baffle plates being spaced a short distance rearward of the rearsurface of a reflective mirror p late to create paths for warm water toflow downwardly on the rear surface of the reflective mirror plate, theflowing water transferring heat more quickly to the mirror plate thanstanding water.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that includes a vertically arranged series of water reservoircompartments which have upper and lower downwardly and forwardly angledbaffle walls, and a pair of laterally spaced apart vertical hanger ribplates that have extending from rear edges thereof and rearwardlythrough the rear opening of each compartment a pair of laterally spacedapart suspension hooks, each having in a lower surface thereof asuspension hook notch, and a suspension bracket attachable to a showerwall and having a laterally disposed suspension rib for engaging aselected pair of suspension hooks and thereby removably attaching themirror assembly at variously selected heights on a shower enclosuresurface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorthat includes a squeegee removably attachable to the suspension bracket.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fogless shower mirrorsystem that includes an internal illuminator powered by an internalrechargeable battery.

Various other objects and advantages of the present invention, and itsmost novel features, will become apparent to those skilled in the art byperusing the accompanying specification, drawings and claims.

It is to be understood that although the invention disclosed herein isfully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantagesdescribed, the characteristics of the invention described herein aremerely illustrative of the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, I do notintend that the scope of my exclusive rights and privileges in theinvention be limited to details of the embodiments described. I dointend that equivalents, adaptations and modifications of the inventionreasonably inferable from the description contained herein be includedwithin the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

SUMMARY

Briefly stated, the present invention comprehends a fogless showermirror system for facilitating the performance of personal groomingfunctions such as shaving in a steamy environment such as a showerenclosure, in which the use of a conventional mirror to view one's facewould be precluded by the condensation of water vapor in the enclosureinto water droplets or fog on the cooler surface of the mirror.

A fogless shower mirror system according to the present inventionincludes a mirror assembly and an attachment system for attaching themirror assembly to the wall of a shower enclosure. The mirror assemblyincludes a rectangular tablet-shaped mirror housing that has generallyparallel front and rear sides, and includes a thin, vertically elongatedrectangular-outline front mirror housing shell that holds therein arectangular reflective mirror plate.

The mirror housing includes a thicker rectangular-outline rear shellthat has a front side which is congruent with the rear side of the frontframe shell. The rear mirror housing shell contains a water reservoirthat is located concentrically within outer perimeter flange walls thatextend forward from a rear wall of the shell. The water reservoirincludes a vertically elongated rectangular frame that has outerperimeter walls which are parallel to and recessed inwardly from theouter perimeter flange walls of the rear mirror housing shell.

The outer perimeter walls of the water reservoir frame extend forwardinto a hollow interior space of the rear mirror housing shell, andinclude a top reservoir perimeter wall that is located a short distancebelow the top outer perimeter flange wall of the rear mirror housingshell. The water reservoir also has left and right-side water reservoirperimeter walls which are located equal short distances inwardly fromthe left and right outer perimeter flange walls of the rear mirrorhousing shell, and a bottom water reservoir perimeter wall that islocated a greater distance upwards from the bottom outer perimeter wallof the rear mirror housing shell.

The water reservoir has openings through its rear, outer side that arefillable with warm water, and openings in the front, inner side of theframe that enable the warm water to contact the rear surface of thereflective mirror plate. When heat transferred to the mirror plate fromthe water warms the front reflective surface of the mirror plate to atemperature greater than that of water vapor within a shower enclosure,the heated surface prevents the condensation of water vapor intodroplets of water or “fog” on the surface of the mirror. Suchcondensation would otherwise cause the imaging capability of the mirrorto be degraded to an extent that would render the mirror essentiallyunusable for performing personal care functions, such as shaving.

The water reservoir of a fogless shower mirror system according to thepresent invention has a novel design and construction that results insubstantial performance advancements over prior art fogless mirrors.Specifically, the design and construction of the fogless shower mirrorsystem according to the present invention increases the efficiency ofheat transfer from water in the reservoir to the reflective mirrorplate. The novel design and construction of the reservoir according tothe present invention also increases the time duration that condensationof water vapor on the surface of the mirror is prevented before thereservoir needs to be re-filled with warm water, thus increasing theduration that the mirror can be effectively used to perform personalcare functions such as shaving.

The novel design of the water reservoir of the fogless shower mirroraccording to the present invention includes a vertically arranged seriesof laterally elongated, adjacent reservoir compartments. Eachcompartment has in a rear elevation view a laterally elongatedrectangular outline shape and includes a rectangular inner, front sideopening that contacts the rear surface of the front reflective mirrorplate, and a rectangular outer, rear side opening for enabling thecompartment to be filled with warm water.

The vertically arranged series of individual compartments of the waterreservoir are located in a vertically elongated, rectangularly shapedopening of the rear mirror housing shell. The upper perimeter wall ofthe top compartment of the water reservoir is formed by the upperperimeter wall of the rectangular opening in the rear shell. The upperperimeter wall is located a short distance below the upper horizontallydisposed outer perimeter wall of the rear mirror housing shell.

The upper wall of the top reservoir compartment is coextensive with thetop reservoir perimeter wall, which has the form of a laterallyelongated rectangular plane that extends laterally between laterallyopposed, parallel, left and right vertical reservoir perimeter sidewalls of the opening in the rear shell of the mirror housing. The planeof the upper wall of the top reservoir compartment is inclined upwardlyfrom an inner front lateral edge that is adjacent to the rear surface ofthe reflective mirror plate, to a higher elevation at the outer rearopening in the rear housing shell. In one embodiment, an upper side wallhas an inclined at a dihedral angle from 35 degrees to 55 degreesupwardly from a horizontal plane perpendicular to the reflective mirrorplate. In an example embodiment of the mirror, the upper side wall isinclined at a dihedral angle of about 40 degrees upwardly from ahorizontal plane perpendicular to the reflective mirror plate. Inanother example embodiment of the mirror, the upper side wall isinclined at a dihedral angle of about 52 degrees upwardly from ahorizontal plane perpendicular to the reflective mirror plate. Inaspects of this embodiment, an upper side wall is inclined at a dihedralangle in the range of 37 degrees to 43 degrees upwardly from ahorizontal plane perpendicular to the reflective mirror plate. In oneaspect of this embodiment, an upper side wall is inclined at a dihedralangle in about 40 degrees upwardly from a horizontal plane perpendicularto the reflective mirror plate. In aspects of this embodiment, an upperside wall is inclined at a dihedral angle in the range of 50 degrees to55 degrees upwardly from a horizontal plane perpendicular to thereflective mirror plate. In one aspect of this embodiment, an upper sidewall is inclined at a dihedral angle in about 52 degrees upwardly from ahorizontal plane perpendicular to the reflective mirror plate.

The lower wall of the top reservoir compartment is formed by a thin,laterally elongated rectangular baffle plate that is parallel to andshaped similarly to the upper wall plane of the opening in the rear sideof the mirror housing, and is inclined upwardly at the same dihedralangle from a horizontal plane perpendicular to the reflective mirrorplate.

Constructed as described above, the top reservoir compartment has theshape of a laterally elongated, downwardly and inwardly disposedrectangular cross-section channel that has in a side sectional view theoutline shape of a regular parallelogram. The top reservoir compartmentchannel has parallel upper and lower walls that are inclined upwardlyand rearwardly from the rear surface of the reflective mirror plate, toform a laterally elongated, rectangularly shaped opening for receivingwarm water.

Each of the other compartments of the fogless shower mirror waterreservoir according to the present invention are shaped identically tothe top compartment. Thus a second water reservoir compartment locatedimmediately below the top compartment includes an upper wall that iscoextensive with the lower baffle plate of the first, top compartment.The second compartment has a lower wall consisting of a lower baffleplate that is identical to the upper baffle plate of the secondcompartment, and the lower baffle plate is coextensive with the upperwall of a third reservoir compartment that is located immediately belowthe second compartment.

Each successive compartment of the water reservoir is constructed inexactly the same way as the second compartment, with the singleexception that the lower wall of the bottom compartment consists of ahorizontal bottom plane of the rectangular rear reservoir entranceopening in the rear housing shell. A fogless shower mirror according tothe present invention can have a single reservoir compartment, but morepreferably a plurality of reservoir compartments. For, example, afogless shower mirror according to the present invention can have from 1to 20 reservoir compartments, 5 to 19 reservoir compartments, 6 to 18reservoir compartments, 7 to 17 reservoir compartments, 8 to 16reservoir compartments, 9 to 15 reservoir compartments, 10 to 14reservoir compartments, or 11 to 13 reservoir compartments, but theexact number and sizes of the compartment are not believed to becritical. In one an embodiment of a fogless shower mirror according tothe present invention has 8 reservoir compartments. In anotherembodiment of a fogless shower mirror according to the present inventionhas 10 reservoir compartments. In a preferred embodiment of a foglessshower mirror according to the present invention has 10 to 14 reservoircompartments. In a preferred embodiment of a fogless shower mirroraccording to the present invention has 11 to 13 reservoir compartments.In a most preferred embodiment of a fogless shower mirror according tothe present invention has 12 reservoir compartments.

According to the present invention, the downwardly angled forward edgesof each of the reservoir compartment baffle plates are spaced adjacentto and a short distance rearward of the rear surface of the reflectivemirror to form a slit-shaped opening. Such slit-shaped openings enablewater from an upper reservoir compartment to flow downwardly on the rearsurface of reflective mirror plate towards a lower reservoircompartment. In one embodiment, the distance of the space formed byslit-shaped openings is in the range of 0.01 mm and 0.1 mm. In oneembodiment, the distance of the space formed by slit-shaped openings isin the range of 0.02 mm and 0.07 mm. In one embodiment, the distance ofthe space formed by slit-shaped openings is in the range of 0.03 mm and0.06 mm. In an aspect of this embodiment, the distance of the spaceformed by slit-shaped openings is about 0.05 mm. Such spacing results ina reflective mirror plate being warmed sufficiently in about 5 secondsand remain fogless for about 5 minutes.

In another embodiment, the distance of the spacing can range frombetween 0.05 mm at a water temperature of 40° F. to about 0.02 mm at awater temperature of 140° F. In another embodiment, the distance of thespacing can range from between 0.01 mm at a water temperature of 70° F.to about 0.05 mm at a water temperature of 120° F.

According to the present invention, the spacing between the front edgeof each baffle plate of a reservoir compartment and the rear surface ofthe reflective mirror plate creates a thin, laterally elongated,generally rectangularly-shaped leakage channel that causes water in eachcompartment to flow downwardly under the force of gravity to lowerelevations. This flow causes the lower reservoir compartments to beoverfilled, resulting in water flowing outwardly from the open rearsides of the compartments and cascading downwards to the outer rearsides of lower reservoir compartments.

The flowing water is effective in transferring heat to the mirror morequickly than standing water, decreasing the time required for the mirrorto defog and increasing the time duration that the mirror may be usedbefore becoming fogged.

The mirror assembly according to the present invention includes a pairof small cross-section drainage channels that are connected to thebottom water reservoir compartment, to drain water from the bottomcompartment. Each drainage channel has an upper entrance opening that isdisposed vertically through the bottom side wall of the bottom waterreservoir compartment, and a lower discharge opening that is disposedvertically through bottom outer perimeter flange wall of the rear mirrorhousing shell.

The drainage channels have a cumulative cross-sectional area of about1.0 mm², and provide a discharge rate of about 1.6 L/min. Also, each ofthe water reservoir compartments has a volume of about 69.3 mL. In testsof a fogless water mirror with the foregoing dimensions, it was foundthat about 2.5 seconds were required for completely filled upper waterreservoir compartments to be emptied, and about 25 seconds for thebottom reservoir compartment to be emptied through the two dischargechannels.

The novel construction of a fogless shower mirror water reservoirdescribed above, comprised of a vertically arranged series of adjacentcontacting water compartments, has proven to be highly effective intransferring heat from warm water that has been introduced into thecompartments to the reflective mirror plate for long periods of fog-freeusage of the mirror. Thus even though the upper reservoir compartmentsbecome emptied in about 25 seconds, the reflective mirror plate iswarmed sufficiently to remain fogless for about 5 minutes.

The fogless shower mirror according to the present invention hasadditional novel features that combine with construction featuresdescribed above to create a versatile illuminated fogless shower systemthat has additional advantageous features. Specifically, the performanceadvantage in the length of time that the mirror remains fogless isaugmented by the ease with which the water reservoir may be filled withwarm water and emptied of cooled water.

The fogless shower mirror system according to the present inventionincludes, in addition to the novel mirror assembly, an attachment systemthat facilitates attaching the mirror assembly to the wall of a showerenclosure at any selected from a relatively wide range of heights on thewall, removing the mirror to empty and re-fill the mirror reservoir withwarm water, and replacing the mirror at a desired location.

The novel construction of a water reservoir of the mirror assemblydescribed above incorporates additional features that facilitate thetemporary attachment of the mirror to a wall or a shower enclosure at awide range of selected heights, quickly and easily removing the mirrorfrom the wall to empty the mirror reservoir, refill it with warm water,and quickly and easily re-attaching the mirror to the shower wall at aselected height. The foregoing versatile attachment, removal, andre-attachment features of a fogless shower mirror system according tothe present invention are implemented by novel additional structuralfeatures of the mirror assembly will now be described.

The novel attachment system of the fogless shower mirror systemaccording to the present invention includes a pair of thin, laterallyspaced apart, vertically disposed hanger rib plates. Each hanger ribplate is located adjacent to the rear surfaces of the mirror plate, andhas a vertically arranged series of vertically spaced apart individualattachment hook members that extend rearward into channels of individualcompartments of the rear water reservoir. Each of the two hanger ribplates is positioned a short distance laterally inwards from an adjacentinner vertical perimeter wall of the rectangularly shaped rear reservoiropening. Also, each of the two hanger rib plates has a front part thathas the shape of a thin, vertically elongated plate that has a straightvertical front edge and straight, parallel left and right sides.Although the attachment system of the fogless shower mirror system isdescribed with two hanger rib plates, the attachment system could bedesigned to include three or four hanger rib plates.

Each hanger rib plate has extending rearward into the flat verticalfront wall surface thereof a vertically arranged series of shallow,vertically elongated rectangular sideview notches that are locatedadjacent to the rear side of the front reflective mirror plate.Unnotched parts of the front wall of each rib form between each pair ofnotches a rectangular lug.

A notch and a small rectangular lug protrude forward from the frontsurface of each hanger rib plate between each pair of upper and lowerreservoir compartment baffle plates. A notch in the front vertical edgewall of each rib, and the adjacent lug, are located between the upperand lower baffle plates of each water reservoir compartment. The frontsurfaces of the lugs contact the rear surface of the reflective mirrorplate, and the notches in the ribs enable water in each reservoircompartment to flow freely between three laterally adjacentsub-compartments that are created in each compartment by the twovertical ribs.

The front plate part of each hanger rib plate has extending rearwardfrom a vertical rear surface thereof a vertically arranged series ofattachment hook members. Each attachment hook member has in a sideelevation view the shape of an upwardly and rearwardly inclined bossthat has a uniform thickness and an outline shape of a parallelogram.The rear vertical side of each attachment hook member boss has extendedupwardly and outwardly thereof an arcuately curved hook that has on alower side thereof an arcuately upwardly curved notch.

Constructed as described above, each hanger rib plate has the form of athin, uniform thickness plate that in a side elevation view includes avertically elongated web. The web has a flat, vertically disposedsurface that has extending rearwardly therefrom a series of rectangularnotches that are separated by a series of lugs which have flat frontsurfaces which lie in a common front vertical plane that confronts therear vertical surface of the mirror plate.

Each lug and an adjacent notch located below it have extending from therear vertical side thereof a parallelogram shaped hook member that isinclined upwardly and rearwardly from the web. Each hook member hasapproximately the same cross-sectional shape and size as those of thewater reservoir compartment, and extends rearwardly into a compartment.

Thus constructed, the fogless shower mirror according to the presentinvention has protruding outwardly from the channel between the rearedges of each pair of upper and lower baffle plates of each waterreservoir compartment a pair of laterally spaced apart suspension hooks.Each suspension hook has the shape of a thin, uniform-thickness blockthat has an arcuately curved convex upper surface and an arcuatelyupwardly curved concave lower hook opening.

The fogless shower mirror system according to the present inventionincludes in combination with the suspension hooks that protruderearwardly from the rear reservoir compartment of the mirror housing awall-mount suspension bracket for attachment to a vertical wall surface,such as that of a shower enclosure wall.

According to the invention, an attachment system includes a thin,laterally elongated rectangular bracket plate. The bracket plate hasextending forward from a straight, laterally disposed upper edge thereofa thin, elongated flange. The flange preferably spans a substantialfraction of the entire width of the upper edge wall, and may befabricated with the remaining parts of the suspension holder as aone-piece part that may be fabricated as an injection molded plasticpart.

The suspension bracket flange extends forward a short distance from theflat front surface of the suspension bracket plate and has formed on afront transverse edge thereof a laterally disposed straight retainer ribthat has a convex, arcuately curved semicircular cross-sectional shape.The cross-sectional shape of the suspension bracket plate retainer ribis complementary to that of the upwardly opening notches in the lowersides of each laterally spaced apart pair of suspension hooks thatprotrude outwardly from the rear opening of each water reservoircompartment.

According to the invention, the rear surface of the fogless mirrorsystem suspension bracket plate may optionally have attached thereto apressure-sensitive adhesive strip. The adhesive strip includes apressure-sensitive adhesive layer that has affixed lightly to the outersurface thereof a protective release sheet that may be peeled off toexpose the underlying adhesive layer when it is desired to fasten thesuspension plate to a shower wall.

Optionally, the suspension bracket may include a relatively weaklyadhering, temporary adhesive fastener layer that overlies an inner, morestrongly adhering semi-permanent fastener layer. With this option, thesuspension holder may be temporarily fastened to a shower wall atvarious tentative locations using the weakly adhering fastener until auser decides on a preferred semi-permanent location. The weakly adheringtemporary adhesive fastener may then be peeled off, and the underlyingsemi-permanent fastener pressed against the wall to fasten thesuspension plate in the desired semi-permanent location.

After the suspension bracket of the fogless shower mirror system hasbeen attached to a shower wall as described above, the mirror assemblyof the system may be grasped by a user, and oriented horizontally withthe mirror facing downward, and positioned below streams of warm waterissuing from a shower head nozzle, to thereby fill the water reservoircompartments in the rear side of the mirror housing through theirupwardly facing rear openings.

When the water reservoir compartments have been filled with warm water,the mirror assembly is oriented vertically, with the suspension hooksprotruding from the rear side of the mirror assembly positioned in frontof the wall-mounted suspension bracket. The upper end of the mirrorassembly is then tilted slightly towards the wall and the mirror movedvertically to a desired viewing height. The mirror is then movedrearward and downwardly to engage a pair of selected suspension hooksnearest the suspension bracket rib with the pair of selected suspensionhooks to thus hang the mirror at the desired height.

Since the fogless shower mirror according to the present inventionincludes a vertically arranged series of suspension hook pairs that spana significant fraction of the mirror housing height. For example, in apreferred embodiment where a fogless shower mirror has 12 reservoircompartments, 11 suspension hooks over a distance of about 8 inches arepresent, giving a user of the mirror the ability to position the mirrorat various heights selected from a wide range of heights.

A fogless shower mirror system according to the present invention mayoptionally include a squeegee for removing water from the front surfaceof a mirror, that may have condensed after the mirror has been used andnot refilled with warm water. Thus according to the present invention, asqueegee having a thin, elongated rectangular handle strip and anelongated resilient squeegee strip extending from the long edge of thehandle strip may be provided as part of the fogless shower mirrorsystem.

With the squeegee option, the suspension bracket preferably includes oneor more fasteners for holding a squeegee when it is not in use. In anexample embodiment of a fogless mirror system according to the presentinvention, the suspension bracket plate had located at each oppositeshort vertical side edges thereof a laterally outwardly extending springclip for compressively retaining the vertically oriented handle strip ofa squeegee.

A preferred embodiment of a fogless shower mirror system according tothe present invention includes in the mirror assembly an internalillumination source for illuminating objects, such as a person's face,located in front of the mirror, and an internal rechargeable electricalpower source for supplying electrical power to the illuminator. Thisembodiment has an illuminator that includes a series of regularly spacedlight emitting Light Emitting Diodes (LED's). The LED's are attached atregularly spaced-apart intervals to the periphery of a flat rectangularring that has a perimeter slightly larger than that of the reflectivemirror plate. According to the present invention, the LED ring islocated concentrically with respect to the reflective mirror plate, andthe plane of the ring is vertically aligned with the plane of the mirrorplate.

The illuminated fogless shower mirror according to the present inventionhas a light-transmissive window to transmit light rays that have beenemitted by the LED's and diffusely reflected off of interior surfaces ofthe mirror housing out through the front side of the mirror housing andinto a region located in front of the reflective mirror plate. In thisembodiment, the light-transmissive window consisted of a flat,rectangular bezel ring made of a diffusely light-transmissive polymer,which was positioned as a bezel ring around the perimeter of the mirrorplate.

According to the invention, a rechargeable power source for powering theLED light ring included a laterally-elongated, generallysemi-cylindrically shaped enlargement of the rear mirror housing. Thehousing enlargement was located parallel to and adjacent to the lowerrear horizontal side of the rear mirror housing, and contained arechargeable battery, for example a 3.7-volt rechargeable battery.

A fogless shower mirror system according to the present invention alsoincluded in the rear housing an electronic circuit board which containedbattery charge control circuitry and ballast circuitry forinterconnecting between the LED's and the battery.

A fogless shower mirror also includes an electrical power input jacklocated in the bottom panel of the rear mirror housing, which iselectrically connected to the charge control circuitry. Recharging ofthe internal battery is accomplished by removing the mirror from thesuspension holder to a location outside of the shower enclosure, where a110-volt to d.c. adapter plugged into a power receptacle may beconnected through a cable and d.c. output plug to the re-charge inputjack.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a fogless shower mirror systemaccording to the present invention, shown mounted to a wall.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the fogless shower mirror system ofFIG. 1 showing a mirror assembly thereof removed from an attachmentsystem thereof.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the mirror assembly of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the mirror assembly of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the fogless shower mirror system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the fogless shower mirror system of FIG.1 .

FIG. 7 is a left-side elevation view of the fogless shower mirror systemof FIG. 1 .

FIG. 8 is a right-side elevation view of the fogless shower mirrorsystem of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 9 is a front elevation view of an attachment system of FIG. 2showing wall-mount suspension bracket and squeegee of the fogless showermirror system of FIG. 2 .

FIG. 10 is a rear elevation view of the wall-mount suspension bracketand squeegee of FIG. 9 .

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the wall-mount suspension bracket andsqueegee of FIG. 9 , showing the squeegee removed from the bracketthereof.

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the wall-mount suspension bracket of FIG.9 .

FIG. 13 is a bottom plan view of the wall-mount suspension bracket ofFIG. 9 .

FIG. 14 is a left-side elevation view of the wall-mount suspensionbracket of FIG. 9 , the right-side elevation view being a mirror imageof the left side view.

FIG. 15 is a front elevation view of the squeegee of FIG. 9 .

FIG. 16 is a rear elevation view of the squeegee of FIG. 9 .

FIG. 17 is a left-side elevation view of the squeegee of FIG. 9 , theright-side elevation view being a mirror image of the left-side view.

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary exploded bottom view of the fogless showermirror system of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 19 is an exploded perspective view of the fogless shower mirrorsystem of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 20 is a front elevation view of a hanger rib plate of the foglessshower mirror system shown in FIG. 19 .

FIG. 21 is a rear elevation view of the hanger rib plate of FIG. 20 .

FIG. 22 is a side elevation view of the hanger rib plate of FIG. 20 .

FIG. 23 is a top plan view of the hanger rib plate of FIG. 20 .

FIG. 24 is a bottom plan view of the hanger rib plate of FIG. 20 .

FIG. 25 is a broken-away view of the mirror assembly of FIG. 19 ,showing in front elevation a rear housing part of the mirror.

FIG. 26 is a broken-away view of the mirror assembly of FIG. 19 ,showing in rear elevation a front housing part of the mirror.

FIG. 27 is a longitudinal medial sectional view of the fogless showermirror system of FIG. 4 , taken in the direction 27-27.

FIG. 28 is an upper transverse sectional view of the fogless showermirror system of FIG. 4 , taken in the direction 28-28.

FIG. 29 is an lower transverse sectional view of the fogless showermirror system of FIG. 4 , taken in the direction 29-29.

FIG. 30 is a rear elevation view of the fogless shower mirror system ofFIG. 1 showing wall-mount suspension bracket thereof attached to amirror assembly thereof.

FIG. 31 is a perspective view showing how the mirror assembly of FIGS.1-4 , may be attached to and removed from a wall-mount suspensionbracket of the fogless shower mirror system.

FIG. 32 is a perspective rear view of the mirror assembly of FIGS. 1-4 ,showing how rear water reservoir components of the mirror assembly maybe filled with water.

FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view of pressure-sensitive adhesive strip.

DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-32 illustrate the construction and functions of a fogless showermirror system according to the present invention.

As may be understood by referring to FIGS. 1-4 , an fogless showermirror system 40 according to the present invention includes a mirrorassembly 41 and an attachment system 42 for removably attaching mirrorassembly 41 at adjustable heights to a vertical surface such as that ofa shower enclosure wall, removing the mirror assembly to fill it withwarm water, and re-attaching the mirror assembly to the wall-mountbracket at a height selected to be suitable for facilitating performanceof a personal care function such as shaving.

As shown in FIGS. 1-4 , mirror assembly 41 of a fogless shower mirrorsystem according to the present invention includes a rectangulartablet-shaped mirror housing 43. Mirror housing 43 has in a frontelevation view a vertically elongated, rectangular outline shape.

As may be understood by referring to FIGS. 3, 5 and 6 , mirror housing43 has a front part consisting of a relatively thin, rectangularelevation view front mirror housing shell 44. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, front mirror housing shell 44 has a vertically elongated, rectangularoutline shape that includes a front panel 45. Front mirror housing shell44 also has thin flange walls that are curved rearwardly from frontpanel 45 and extend perpendicularly rearward from front panel 45.Rearwardly extending flange walls of front mirror housing shell 44consist of a top flange wall 46, a bottom flange wall 47, a left flangewall 48, and a right flange wall 49.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , front panel 45 of front mirror housing shell44 has set in a rectangular opening 50 a rectangularly shaped reflectivemirror plate 51 that is concentrically located in front panel 45. Mirrorplate opening 50 has top, left, and right edges 52, 53, 54, that areparallel to top, left, and right flange walls 46, 48, 49, of frontmirror housing shell 44, and are positioned equal short distancesinwardly from the flange walls. Mirror opening 50 also has a bottom edge55 that is parallel to and located a greater distance from the bottomflange wall 47 of the front mirror housing shell 44 than the distancebetween the side edges and side flange walls. As shown in FIG. 26 , therearward extending flange walls 46, 47, 48, and 49 of front mirrorhousing shell 44 have co-planar rear edges 56, 57, 58, and 59,respectively.

As may be seen by referring to FIGS. 4-8 and 18 , mirror housing 43 ofmirror assembly 41 includes a rear part comprising a rear mirror housingshell 60. Rear mirror housing shell 60 has a shape similar to that offront mirror assembly housing shell 44, but is thicker. Rear mirrorhousing shell 60 has a rear panel 61 and top, left, right and bottomflange walls 62, 63, 64 and 65 that extend perpendicularly forward fromthe rear panel. Thus, the forward extending flange walls of rear mirrorhousing shell 60 comprise a top flange wall 62, a bottom flange wall 63,a left flange wall 64, and a right flange wall 65. The frontwardlyextending rear flange walls of the rear housing shell have front edges66, 67, 68, 69, respectively, that congruently contact rear edges 56,57, 58, and 59 of flange walls 46, 47, 48, and 49, respectively of frontmirror housing shell 44.

As may be understood best by referring to FIGS. 25 and 26 , the fourrearwardly extending peripheral flange walls of front mirror housingshell 44 form a rearwardly extending rectangular ring 70 that has flatouter sides and a thin, flat rectangular ring-shaped rear mating surface71. Similarly, the four forwardly extending peripheral flange walls ofrear mirror housing shell 60 form a forwardly extending rectangular ring72 that has flat outer sides and a thin, flat rectangular ring-shapedfront mating surface 73.

As may be understood by referring to FIG. 19 , front mirror housingshell 44 is joined to rear mirror housing shell 60 to form an enclosedmirror housing. As shown in FIGS. 25 and 26 , mirror housing shell 44and rear mirror housing shell 60 are fastened together by a series ofstuds 75 that extend rearward from rear surface of front panel 45 offront mirror housing shell 44. Studs 75 are arranged in a rectangularring that has sides parallel to the peripheral flange wall ring 70 offront shell 44, and are press-fitted in interference fits into sockets77 that extend forward from a front inner wall surface 78 of rear mirrorhousing shell 60 that are also arranged in a rectangular ring which iscongruent with the stud ring.

FIGS. 2, 4, 19-25, and 27 illustrate construction details of a waterreservoir 79 which is part of mirror assembly 41. As may be seen best byreferring to FIGS. 4, 19, and 25 , reservoir 79 has generally the formof a thin, vertically elongated, rectangularly shaped frame 80 that fitsconformally into a rectangular opening 81 through rear panel 61 of rearmirror housing shell 60.

As shown in FIG. 4 , frame 80 of reservoir 79 has an outer peripheralwall 83 that has the shape of a thin, rectangular ring which has flatouter peripheral surface which contact inner sides of opening 81 in rearpanel 61 of rear mirror assembly housing shell 60. As shown in FIGS. 4and 25, thus constructed, frame 80 of reservoir 79 has top, left, andright reservoir peripheral flange sides 84, 85, 86 of outer peripheralwall 83 that are located parallel to and inwardly of top, left, andright outer peripheral flange walls 62, 64, and 65 of rear mirrorassembly housing shell 60. The top, left, and right reservoir peripheralflange sides 84, 85, 86 of outer peripheral wall 83 of frame 80 ofreservoir 79 are located short distances transversely inwards fromadjacent outer peripheral flange walls of rear mirror housing shell 60.Additionally, frame 80 of reservoir 79 also has a bottom reservoirperipheral flange side 87 of outer peripheral wall 83 that is locatedabove bottom outer peripheral flange wall 63 of rear mirror housingshell 60, at a greater spacing than the spacing between top, left, andright-side separation distances between top, left, and right reservoirperipheral flange sides 84, 85, 86 of outer peripheral wall 83.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 19, 25, and 27 , water reservoir 79 is divided intoa vertically arranged series of water compartments 88, e.g., from 1 to20 reservoir compartments, but the exact number and sizes of thecompartment are not believed to be critical. In one an embodiment of afogless shower mirror according to the present invention had 8 reservoircompartments. In another embodiment of a fogless shower mirror accordingto the present invention had 10 reservoir compartments. In a preferredembodiment of a fogless shower mirror according to the present inventionhad 12 reservoir compartments. Each reservoir compartment 88 has theshape of a laterally elongated parallelepiped that has in a rearelevation view a laterally elongated rectangular outline, as shown inFIGS. 4 and 25 , and a regular parallelogram shape in a side sectionalview, as shown in FIG. 27 .

As shown in FIG. 25 , in a preferred embodiment, the vertical series ofwater reservoir compartments 88 include a top compartment 88-1, avertically arranged series of ten intermediate compartments 88-2 through88-11, located below the top compartment, and a bottom compartment 88-12located below the intermediate compartments. As shown in FIG. 27 , eachreservoir compartment 88 has a thin, laterally elongated, rectangular,slit-shaped, front opening 89 that is adjacent to the rear surface 90 ofreflective mirror plate 51 and a rectangular rear opening 91. Rearopening 91 of each reservoir compartment 88 enables the compartment tobe filled with warm water. Front opening 89 of each compartment 88 islocated at a lower elevation than rear opening 91 so that warm waterwill gravitate downwards towards the front opening and contact the rearsurface 90 of reflective mirror plate 51. As shown in FIG. 25 , avertical series of water reservoir compartments 88 has a commonleft-side wall coextensive with left-side reservoir peripheral flangewall 85, and a common right-side wall coextensive with right-sidereservoir peripheral flange wall 86.

As may be understood by referring to FIG. 27 , each water reservoircompartment 88 is formed by flat, laterally elongated rectangular topand bottom baffle plates 98 that extends laterally between laterallyopposed parallel left and right reservoir peripheral flange sides 85, 86of outer peripheral wall 83 of reservoir frame 80, and downwardly andforward into rear mirror housing shell 60. Each baffle plate 98 has aflat upper wall surface 92, a lower flat wall surface 95, a rear edge 93and a front edge 94. Each baffle plate 98 extends at a downwardly anglefrom rear edge 93 of rear opening 91 and forward into the interior ofrear mirror housing shell 60 to front edge 94.

As can be appreciated from FIG. 27 , a baffle plate which serves todefine the bottom of one reservoir compartment servers to define the topof a reservoir compartment located below it. Thus, with reference toFIG. 27 , baffle plate 98-2 serves to define the bottom of reservoircompartment 88-1 and the top of reservoir compartment 88-2, baffle plate98-3 serves to define the bottom of reservoir compartment 88-2 and thetop of reservoir compartment 88-3, and so forth as shown in FIG. 27 . Asmay be understood best by referring to FIGS. 25 and 27 , except for thetopmost and bottommost reservoir compartments, each reservoircompartment 88, e.g., reservoir compartment 88-2 through 88-11 in FIG.25 , is constructed in exactly the same way and is similarly shaped. Thetopmost reservoir compartment, e.g., reservoir compartment 88-1 in FIG.27 , has a top wall that lies in a horizontal plane and is coextensivewith top reservoir peripheral flange side 84 of outer peripheral wall 83of frame 80 of reservoir 79. The bottommost reservoir compartment, e.g.,reservoir compartment 88-12 in FIG. 27 , has a bottom formed byreservoir peripheral flange side 87 of outer peripheral wall 83 of frame80 of reservoir 79.

The downwardly angle of one baffle plate 98 parallels the downward angleof each other baffle plates 98. In one embodiment, a downward angle ofbaffle plates 98 from a horizontal plane perpendicular to the reflectivemirror plate is in the range of 35 degrees to 55 degrees. In aspects ofthis embodiment, a downward angle of baffle plates 88 from a horizontalplane perpendicular to the reflective mirror plate is in the range of 37degrees to 43 degrees. In one aspect of this embodiment, a downwardangle of baffle plates 98 from a horizontal plane perpendicular to thereflective mirror plate is about 40 degrees. In aspects of thisembodiment, a downward angle of baffle plates 88 from a horizontal planeperpendicular to the reflective mirror plate is in the range of 50degrees to 55 degrees. In one aspect of this embodiment, a downwardangle of baffle plates 98 from a horizontal plane perpendicular to thereflective mirror plate is about 52 degrees.

As shown in FIG. 28 , baffle plates 98 lie in a plane that is spaced ashort distance rearward of rear surface 90 of reflective mirror plate 51to create thin, laterally disposed slit-shaped opening 89 between thefront edge of each baffle plate and rear surface 90 of the reflectivemirror plate 51. Slit-shaped openings 89 enable water from an upperreservoir compartment to flow downwardly on the rear surface 90 ofreflective mirror plate 51 towards a lower reservoir compartment. In oneembodiment, the distance of the space formed by slit-shaped openings 89is in the range of 0.01 mm and 0.1 mm. In one embodiment, the distanceof the space formed by slit-shaped openings 89 is in the range of 0.02mm and 0.07 mm. In one embodiment, the distance of the space formed byslit-shaped openings 89 is in the range of 0.03 mm and 0.06 mm. In anaspect of this embodiment, the distance of the space formed byslit-shaped openings 89 is about 0.05 mm.

A lower reservoir compartment 88 that may be overfilled by water flowingdownwards from upper compartments may then overflow outwards from rearentrance opening 91 of the lower reservoir compartment, and over theouter rear surfaces of the reservoir compartments, to form awaterfall-like cascade of flowing water.

As may be seen best by referring to FIGS. 4, 25, 27, and 29 , mirrorassembly 41 includes one or more small cross-section drainage channels103, e.g., left and right drainage channels 103L, 103R in FIG. 29 ,located in bottom reservoir flange side 87 that are connected to aninterior space 104 of mirror assembly 41. As best shown in FIGS. 27 and29 , each drainage channel 103 has an upper entrance opening thatcommunicates with interior space 104 of mirror assembly 41. Eachdrainage channel 103 has a lower discharge opening 105, e.g., left andright discharge openings 105L, 105R in FIG. 4 , that is disposedvertically through rear wall of rear mirror housing shell 60.

In one embodiment, drainage channels 103 have a cumulativecross-sectional area of about 32 mm². Also, each reservoir compartment88 has a volume of about 6927 mm³. In tests of a fogless water mirrorwith the foregoing dimensions, it was found that for a reservoircomprising 12 reservoir compartments it required about 25 seconds tocompletely empty reservoir compartments 88-1 through 88-11, and about 25seconds for bottom reservoir compartment 88-12 to be emptied through twodischarge channels 103L, 103R.

The novel construction of reservoir 79 described above, comprised of avertically arranged series of adjacent contacting reservoir compartments88, has proven to be highly effective in transferring heat from warmwater that has been introduced into the compartments to the reflectivemirror plate 50 for long periods of fog-free usage of fogless showermirror system 40. Thus even though the reservoir compartments becomeemptied in about 25 seconds, the reflective mirror plate 50 is warmedsufficiently to remain fogless for about 5 minutes, a time durationconsidered to be sufficient for most uses, such as shaving.

The novel construction of reservoir 79 of mirror assembly 41 describedabove incorporates additional features that facilitate the temporaryattachment of the mirror assembly to a wall or a shower enclosure at awide range of selected heights, quickly and easily removing the mirrorassembly from the wall to empty the water reservoir, refilling thereservoir with warm water, and quickly and easily re-attaching themirror assembly to the shower wall at a selected height.

FIG. 19 illustrate a hanging attachment system 106 of mirror system 40according to the present invention. Hanging attachment system 106include one or more thin, laterally spaced apart, vertically disposedhanger rib plates 107, e.g. left hanger rib plate 107L and right hangerrib plate 107R in FIG. 19 . As shown in FIG. 27 , each hanger rib plate107 is located adjacent to rear surface 90 of reflector mirror plate 51,and has a vertically arranged series of vertically spaced apartindividual attachment hook members 108 that extend rearward into thefull length of reservoir 79 abutting the top and bottom. Each of hangerrib plate 107 is positioned a short distance laterally inwards from anadjacent inner vertical perimeter wall of a rectangularly shaped rearopening in frame 80 of reservoir 79.

With reference to FIGS. 20-24 , each hanger rib plate 107 has the shapeof a thin, vertically elongated plate that has a has a front surface109, a rear surface 113 and straight, parallel left 114 and right 115sides. With respect to front surface 109, each hanger rib plate 107 hasextending rearward a vertically arranged series of shallow, verticallyelongated rectangular notches 110 as defined by flat rectangular lug 111which protrude forward from front surface 109 of hanger rib plate 107.

With reference to FIGS. 20-24 , rear surface 113 of hanger rib plate 107has extending rearward a vertically arranged series of attachment hookmembers 108. As shown in FIG. 22 , each attachment hook member 108 hasthe shape of an upwardly and rearwardly inclined boss 116 that has auniform thickness and an outline shape of a parallelogram. In addition,a rear vertical side 117 extends upwardly and outwardly from each boss116 to form an arcuately downwardly curved hook 118 which forms a hooknotch 120. Each boss 116 also has on a lower side 119.

As constructed, hanger rib plate 107 extends the vertical full length offrame 80 attaching to top and bottom reservoir peripheral flange sides84, 87, see FIG. 25 . Such arrangement subdivides each reservoircompartment 88. For example, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 25 , left andright hanger rib plates 107L, 107R, subdivide reservoir compartments88-1 to 88-12 to create three sub-compartments. In addition, hanger ribplate 107 is located adjacent to rear side 90 of front reflective mirrorplate 51, lug 111 abuts rear surface 90 of reflective mirror plate 51whereas each notch 110 does not touched rear surface 90, therebycreating flow channels 112, see FIG. 27 . Flow channels 112 enable waterin each reservoir compartment 88 to flow freely between laterallyadjacent sub-compartments. For example, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 25, left and right flow channels 112L, 112R enable water in each reservoircompartment 88 to flow freely between the three laterally adjacentsub-compartments created in each compartment by vertical rib plates107L, 107R.

In addition, as constructed, attachment hook members 108 of hanger ribplate 107 protrude rearwardly from mirror assembly 41. For example, withreference to FIGS. 2, 7 and 27 , left and right hanger rib plates 107L,107R form a vertical series of laterally spaced apart left and rightattachment hook members 108L, 108R that protrude rearwardly fromreservoir compartments 88 of mirror housing 43 of mirror assembly 41.Such protruding left and right attachment hook members 108L, 108R areused to secure mirror assembly 41 to a vertical wall surface.

The fogless shower mirror system 40 includes in combination with mirrorassembly 41, an attachment system 42 for attachment to a vertical wallsurface, such as that of a shower enclosure wall.

Referring to FIGS. 9-11 , attachment system 42 comprises a wall-mountsuspension bracket 130 which includes a thin, laterally elongatedrectangular bracket plate 131. Bracket plate 131 has extending forwardfrom its lower edge 132 a straight, laterally disposed, thin, elongatedsuspension bracket flange 133. Suspension bracket flange 133 preferablyspans a substantial fraction of the entire width of lower edge 132, andmay be fabricated with the remaining parts of suspension bracket 130 asa one-piece part that may be fabricated as an injection molded plasticpart. Suspension bracket flange 133 extends forward a short distancefrom a flat front surface 134 of suspension bracket plate 131 to form afront transverse edge 135 and a laterally disposed straight retainer rib136 thereof that has a convex, arcuately curved semi-circularcross-sectional shape. The cross-sectional shape of suspension bracketplate retainer rib 136 is complementary to that of the upwardly openinghook notches 120 of suspension hooks 118 that protrude outwardly fromrear opening 91 of each reservoir compartment 88.

Referring to FIG. 30 , a rear surface 137 of suspension bracket plate131 may optionally have attached thereto a pressure-sensitive adhesivestrip 138. Adhesive strip 138 includes a pressure-sensitive adhesivelayer 139 that has affixed lightly to the outer surface thereof aprotective release sheet 140 that may be peeled off to expose theunderlying adhesive layer when it is desired to fasten the suspensionplate to a shower wall. Optionally, as shown in FIG. 33 ,pressure-sensitive adhesive strip 138 of suspension bracket flange 133may include a relatively weakly adhering, adhesive layer 141 thatoverlies an inner, more strongly adhering semi-permanent adhesive layer139. With this option, the suspension bracket 133 may be temporarilyfastened to a shower wall at various tentative locations using weaklyadhering adhesive layer 141 until a user decides on a preferredsemi-permanent location. The weakly adhering adhesive layer 141 may thenbe peeled off, and the underlying semi-permanent pressure-sensitiveadhesive layer 139 pressed against the wall to fasten the suspensionplate in the desired semi-permanent location.

Referring to FIGS. 9-14 , attachment system 42 of fogless shower mirrorsystem 40 may optionally include a squeegee 142 for removing water froma front surface of reflective mirror plate 51, that may have condensedafter the mirror has been used and not refilled with warm water. Thusaccording to the present invention, squeegee 142 having a thin,elongated rectangular handle 144 and an elongated resilient squeegeestrip 145 extending from the long edge 146 of the handle 144 may beprovided as part of the fogless shower mirror system.

With the squeegee option, suspension bracket plate 131 preferablyincludes one or more fasteners 148 for holding squeegee 142 on eitherside of the suspension bracket flange when it is not in use. The one ormore fasteners can be located on any side of suspension bracket plate131, preferably on the left and/or right sides of suspension bracketplate 131. Preferably, the one or more fasteners are spring clips. Forexample, as illustrated in FIGS. 9-11 , suspension bracket plate 131 haslocated at each of vertical left and right-side edges 147L, 147Rlaterally outwardly extending fasteners 148L, 148R for compressivelyretaining vertically oriented handle strip 144 of squeegee 142.

A preferred embodiment of fogless shower mirror system 40 according tothe present invention includes an internal illumination source aninternal rechargeable electrical power source for supplying electricalpower to the illumination source. The internal illumination sourceand/or internal rechargeable electrical power source can be locatedwithin mirror assembly 41. The illumination source is typically locatedin front of the mirror and is used for illuminating objects, such as,e.g., a person's face. As may be best understood by reference to FIGS.18 and 19 , illumination source 150 includes a series of regularlyspaced light emitting LED's 151. LED's 151 are attached at regularlyspaced-apart intervals to the periphery of a thin, flat, flexibleinsulating strip formed into a rectangular ring 152 that has a perimeterslightly larger than that of reflective mirror plate 51. According tothe present invention, LED ring 152 is located concentrically withrespect to reflective mirror plate 51, and the plane of the ring isvertically aligned with the plane of the mirror plate.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 , mirror assembly 41 according to the presentinvention has a light-transmissive window 154 to transmit light raysthat have been emitted by the LED's 151 and diffusely reflected througha front side of mirror housing 43 and into a region located in front ofreflective mirror plate 51. In this embodiment, light-transmissivewindow 154 includes a flat, rectangular bezel ring made of a diffuselylight-transmissive polymer, which was positioned as a bezel ring aroundthe perimeter of the mirror plate 51.

As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 , a rechargeable power source for poweringthe LED ring 152 includes a laterally-elongated, generallysemi-cylindrically shaped enlargement 155 of rear mirror assemblyhousing shell 60 (see also FIGS. 27-29 ). Housing enlargement 155 islocated parallel to and adjacent to the lower rear horizontal side 156of rear mirror housing shell 60, and contains a compartment for arechargeable battery 157, for example a 3.7-volt rechargeable battery.

As may be seen best by referring to FIG. 18 , illumination source 150 offogless shower mirror system 40 also includes in rear housing shell 60of mirror assembly 41 an electronic circuit board 158 that includesbattery charging control ballast circuitry 159 for interconnectingbetween LED's 151 and battery 157. Fogless shower mirror system 40 alsoincludes an electrical power input jack 160 located in the bottom panel161 of rear mirror housing shell 60, which is electrically connected tothe charge control circuitry. Recharging of internal battery 157 isaccomplished by removing mirror assembly 41 from wall-mount suspensionbracket 130 to a location outside of the shower enclosure, where a110-volt to d.c. adapter (not shown) plugged into a power receptacle(not shown) may be connected through a cable (not shown) and d.c. outputplug (not shown) to electrical power input jack 160 of mirror assembly41.

As shown in FIG. 18 , illumination source 150 includes a power cable 162that extends from battery 157 and is terminated by a 2-conductorelectrical plug 169. Plug 169 is inserted into an electrical jack 170 onelectronic circuit board 158. Electrical power is supplied to LED's 151through wires (not shown) connected to circuit board 158 throughpress-on/press-off switch 171 operated by a push button 172 located onthe front panel of front mirror housing shell 44.

As shown in FIG. 18 , circuit board 158 may include a pair of LED'smounted on a lower side of the board. The LED's include blue-lightemitting LED 173 to indicate full battery charge and a red-lightemitting LED 174 to indicate battery charge state. Light emitted byLED's 173, 174 is transmitted through a small oval window 175 located inbottom panel 161 of mirror assembly 41.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 30-32 illustrate how mirror system 40 is used. First,mirror assembly 41, with attachment system 41 secured to rear surfacethereof as shown in FIG. 30 , is temporarily placed against a wall ofshower enclosure at a convenient height for use by a person. Next,protective sheet 140 covering adhesive strip 138, 139 is peeled off fromthe adhesive strip. Mirror assembly 41 and bracket are then pressedrearward against the shower enclosure wall to adhesively fastenwall-mount suspension bracket 130 to the shower enclosure wall.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 31 , mirror assembly 41 is tilted upwards andaway from bracket 130 to disengage hook 123 protruding from mirrorassembly 41, from rib 136 of bracket 130. As shown in FIG. 32 , mirrorassembly 41 is then rotated to an inverted horizontal orientation withreflective mirror plate 51 facing downward and a user can fill mirrorassembly 41 with water by orienting the mirror assembly horizontally,and positioned mirror assembly 41 below streams of warm water issuingfrom a shower head nozzle, thereby filling reservoir compartments 88with water through upwardly facing rear openings 91 of reservoircompartments 88. When water reservoir compartments 88 have been filledwith warm water, water-filled mirror assembly 41 is re-hung on mountingbracket 130 as shown in FIG. 31 , thus positioning mirror assembly 41 ina desired use position for fog-free shaving or other use. As shown inFIG. 32 , rehanging can be achieved by orienting vertically mirrorassembly 41 to position hook 118 in front of the wall-mounted suspensionbracket flange 133. The upper end of mirror assembly 41 is then tiltedslightly towards the wall and mirror assembly 41 moved vertically to adesired viewing height. Mirror assembly 41 is then moved rearward anddownwardly to engage selected hooks 118 nearest retainer rib 136 to thushang the mirror assembly 41 at the height desired by a user.

As shown in FIG. 31 , after attachment system 42 of fogless showermirror system 40 has been attached to a wall surface, mirror assembly 41of fogless shower mirror system 40 may be secured to attachment system42 by a user. Since mirror assembly includes a vertically arrangedseries of suspension hook 118 that span a significant fraction of themirror housing height, e.g., 12 suspension hooks over a distance ofabout 8 inches as shown in FIG. 31 , a user of the mirror may positionthe mirror at various heights selected from a wide range of heights.

As an alternative to manually filling reservoir compartments 88 ofreservoir 79 with warm water, mirror assembly 41 can be automaticallyfilled with water using a water source. For example, an automaticwater-filling adaptor as described in U.S. Pat. No. 10,117,449, which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, can be used to diverta portion of water from a water source, like a shower head, into mirrorassembly 41. In this manner, warm water is automatically fillingreservoir compartments 88 of reservoir 79 as long as the water source isturned on. Setting up mirror assembly 41 to automatically fill withwater dispenses the need of a user to remove and rehang mirror assembly41 each time fogless mirror system 40 is used as well as providinggreater periods of convenient fog-free use of fogless mirror system 40.

In closing, it is to be understood that although aspects of the presentspecification are highlighted by referring to specific embodiments, oneskilled in the art will readily appreciate that these disclosedembodiments are only illustrative of the principles of the subjectmatter disclosed herein. Therefore, it should be understood that thedisclosed subject matter is in no way limited to a particular compound,composition, article, apparatus, methodology, protocol, and/or reagent,etc., described herein, unless expressly stated as such. In addition,those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that certain changes,modifications, permutations, alterations, additions, subtractions andsub-combinations thereof can be made in accordance with the teachingsherein without departing from the spirit of the present specification.It is therefore intended that the following appended claims and claimshereafter introduced are interpreted to include all such changes,modifications, permutations, alterations, additions, subtractions andsub-combinations as are within their true spirit and scope.

Certain embodiments of the present invention are described herein,including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out theinvention. Of course, variations on these described embodiments willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading theforegoing description. The inventor expects skilled artisans to employsuch variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the presentinvention to be practiced otherwise than specifically described herein.Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalentsof the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permittedby applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-describedembodiments in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by theinvention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearlycontradicted by context.

Groupings of alternative embodiments, elements, or steps of the presentinvention are not to be construed as limitations. Each group member maybe referred to and claimed individually or in any combination with othergroup members disclosed herein. It is anticipated that one or moremembers of a group may be included in, or deleted from, a group forreasons of convenience and/or patentability. When any such inclusion ordeletion occurs, the specification is deemed to contain the group asmodified thus fulfilling the written description of all Markush groupsused in the appended claims.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing a characteristic,item, quantity, parameter, property, term, and so forth used in thepresent specification and claims are to be understood as being modifiedin all instances by the term “about.” As used herein, the term “about”means that the characteristic, item, quantity, parameter, property, orterm so qualified encompasses a range of plus or minus ten percent aboveand below the value of the stated characteristic, item, quantity,parameter, property, or term. Accordingly, unless indicated to thecontrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification andattached claims are approximations that may vary. For instance, as massspectrometry instruments can vary slightly in determining the mass of agiven analyte, the term “about” in the context of the mass of an ion orthe mass/charge ratio of an ion refers to +/−0.50 atomic mass unit. Atthe very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of thedoctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numericalindication should at least be construed in light of the number ofreported significant digits and by applying ordinary roundingtechniques.

Use of the terms “may” or “can” in reference to an embodiment or aspectof an embodiment also carries with it the alternative meaning of “maynot” or “cannot.” As such, if the present specification discloses thatan embodiment or an aspect of an embodiment may be or can be included aspart of the inventive subject matter, then the negative limitation orexclusionary proviso is also explicitly meant, meaning that anembodiment or an aspect of an embodiment may not be or cannot beincluded as part of the inventive subject matter. In a similar manner,use of the term “optionally” in reference to an embodiment or aspect ofan embodiment means that such embodiment or aspect of the embodiment maybe included as part of the inventive subject matter or may not beincluded as part of the inventive subject matter. Whether such anegative limitation or exclusionary proviso applies will be based onwhether the negative limitation or exclusionary proviso is recited inthe claimed subject matter.

Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and values setting forth thebroad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical rangesand values set forth in the specific examples are reported as preciselyas possible. Any numerical range or value, however, inherently containscertain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation foundin their respective testing measurements. Recitation of numerical rangesof values herein is merely intended to serve as a shorthand method ofreferring individually to each separate numerical value falling withinthe range. Unless otherwise indicated herein, each individual value of anumerical range is incorporated into the present specification as if itwere individually recited herein.

The terms “a,” “an,” “the” and similar references used in the context ofdescribing the present invention (especially in the context of thefollowing claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and theplural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted bycontext. Further, ordinal indicators—such as “first,” “second,” “third,”etc.—for identified elements are used to distinguish between theelements, and do not indicate or imply a required or limited number ofsuch elements, and do not indicate a particular position or order ofsuch elements unless otherwise specifically stated. All methodsdescribed herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwiseindicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The useof any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”)provided herein is intended merely to better illuminate the presentinvention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the inventionotherwise claimed. No language in the present specification should beconstrued as indicating any non-claimed element essential to thepractice of the invention.

When used in the claims, whether as filed or added per amendment, theopen-ended transitional term “comprising”, variations thereof such as“comprise” and “comprises”, and equivalent open-ended transitionalphrases thereof like “including,” “containing” and “having”, encompassesall the expressly recited elements, limitations, steps, integers, and/orfeatures alone or in combination with unrecited subject matter; thenamed elements, limitations, steps, integers, and/or features areessential, but other unnamed elements, limitations, steps, integers,and/or features may be added and still form a construct within the scopeof the claim. Specific embodiments disclosed herein may be furtherlimited in the claims using the closed-ended transitional phrases“consisting of” or “consisting essentially of” (or variations thereofsuch as “consist of”, “consists of”, “consist essentially of”, and“consists essentially of”) in lieu of or as an amendment for“comprising.” When used in the claims, whether as filed or added peramendment, the closed-ended transitional phrase “consisting of” excludesany element, limitation, step, integer, or feature not expressly recitedin the claims. The closed-ended transitional phrase “consistingessentially of” limits the scope of a claim to the expressly recitedelements, limitations, steps, integers, and/or features and any otherelements, limitations, steps, integers, and/or features that do notmaterially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimedsubject matter. Thus, the meaning of the open-ended transitional phrase“comprising” is being defined as encompassing all the specificallyrecited elements, limitations, steps and/or features as well as anyoptional, additional unspecified ones. The meaning of the closed-endedtransitional phrase “consisting of” is being defined as only includingthose elements, limitations, steps, integers, and/or featuresspecifically recited in the claim whereas the meaning of theclosed-ended transitional phrase “consisting essentially of” is beingdefined as only including those elements, limitations, steps, integers,and/or features specifically recited in the claim and those elements,limitations, steps, integers, and/or features that do not materiallyaffect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed subjectmatter. Therefore, the open-ended transitional phrase “comprising” (andequivalent open-ended transitional phrases thereof) includes within itsmeaning, as a limiting case, claimed subject matter specified by theclosed-ended transitional phrases “consisting of” or “consistingessentially of.” As such embodiments described herein or so claimed withthe phrase “comprising” are expressly or inherently unambiguouslydescribed, enabled and supported herein for the phrases “consistingessentially of” and “consisting of.”

All patents, patent publications, and other references cited andidentified in the present specification are individually and expresslyincorporated herein by reference in their entirety for the purpose ofdescribing and disclosing, for example, the compositions andmethodologies described in such publications that might be used inconnection with the present invention. These publications are providedsolely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the presentapplication. Nothing in this regard is or should be construed as anadmission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate suchdisclosure by virtue of prior invention or for any other reason. Allstatements as to the date or representation as to the contents of thesedocuments is based on the information available to the applicant anddoes not constitute any admission as to the correctness of the dates orcontents of these documents

Lastly, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describingparticular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope ofthe present invention, which is defined solely by the claims.Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to that precisely asshown and described.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A mirror assembly comprising a mirrorhousing, a reflective mirror plate, and a water reservoir, the mirrorhousing having a front side and a rear side opposite the front side, thefront side including a front housing opening and the rear side includinga rear housing opening, the reflective mirror plate having a frontmirror plate surface and a rear mirror plate surface, the waterreservoir comprising a plurality of reservoir compartments defined by avertical arranged series of downwardly angled baffle plates, with eachreservoir compartment having a front reservoir compartment openingadjacent to the rear mirror plate surface of the reflective mirror plateand a rear reservoir compartment opening opposite the front reservoircompartment opening, wherein for each reservoir compartment, the frontreservoir compartment opening is positioned at a lower elevationrelative to the rear reservoir compartment opening, wherein each baffleplate of the vertical series of downwardly angled baffle plates isspaced rearward of the rear mirror plate surface of reflective mirrorplate to define a laterally disposed slit-shaped opening between a frontedge of each baffle plate and the rear mirror plate surface of thereflective mirror plate, wherein the reflective mirror plate isconfigured to conformally fit into the front housing opening, whereinthe water reservoir is configured to conformally fit into the rearhousing opening, and wherein each reservoir compartment is configured toenable water to flow downwardly towards the front reservoir compartmentopening and through the slit-shaped opening and contact the rear mirrorplate surface of reflective mirror plate.
 2. The mirror assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the downward angle of each baffle plate of the verticalseries of downwardly angled baffle plates parallels each other.
 3. Themirror assembly of claim 1, wherein the downward angle of each baffleplate of the vertical series of downwardly angled baffle plates isbetween 35 degrees to 55 degrees from a horizontal plane perpendicularto the reflective mirror plate.
 4. The mirror assembly of claim 1,wherein the number of the plurality of reservoir compartments is between5 and
 19. 5. The mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein the downward angleof each baffle plate of the vertical series of downwardly angled baffleplates is between 37 degrees to 43 degrees from a horizontal planeperpendicular to the reflective mirror plate.
 6. The mirror assembly ofclaim 4, wherein the number of the plurality of reservoir compartmentsis between 7 and
 17. 7. The mirror assembly of claim 6, wherein thenumber of the plurality of reservoir compartments is between 9 and 15.8. The mirror assembly of claim 1, wherein a distance of the slit-shapedopening is between 0.01 mm and 0.1 mm.
 9. The mirror assembly of claim8, wherein a distance of the slit-shaped opening is between 0.02 mm and0.07 mm.
 10. The mirror assembly of claim 9, wherein a distance of theslit-shaped opening is between 0.03 mm and 0.06 mm.
 11. The mirrorassembly of claim 1, further comprises an illumination source and alight-transmissive window, the illumination source being locatedinternally in the mirror housing and the light-transmissive window beinglocated on the front side of the mirror housing and configured totransmit light emitted by the illumination source out of the mirrorhousing in front of the reflective mirror plate.
 12. The mirror assemblyof claim 11, wherein the illumination source comprises a series of lightemitting diodes.
 13. The mirror assembly of claim 1, further comprises ahanging attachment system, the hanging attachment system being locatedthe rear side of the mirror housing.
 14. The mirror assembly of claim13, wherein the hanging attachment system comprises one or more hangerrib plates with each hanger rib plate having a vertically arrangedseries of spaced apart attachment hooks that protrude rearwardly fromthe rear side of the mirror housing.
 15. The mirror assembly of claim13, further comprises an attachment system, the attachment systemcomprising a retainer rib configured to securely engage an attachmenthook from each of the one or more hanger rib plates.
 16. A mirrorassembly comprising a mirror housing, a reflective mirror plate, and awater reservoir, the mirror housing having a top side and a bottom sideopposite the top side, a left side and a right side opposite the leftside, and a front side and a rear side opposite the front side, thefront side including a front housing opening and the rear side includinga rear housing opening, the reflective mirror plate having a frontmirror plate surface and a rear mirror plate surface, the waterreservoir comprising between 9 and 15 reservoir compartments defined bya vertical arranged series of downwardly angled baffle plates and twohanger rib plates, with each reservoir compartment having a frontreservoir compartment opening adjacent to the rear mirror plate surfaceof the reflective mirror plate and a rear reservoir compartment openingopposite the front reservoir compartment opening, wherein for eachreservoir compartment, the front reservoir compartment opening ispositioned at a lower elevation relative to the rear reservoircompartment opening, wherein each baffle plate is spaced rearward of therear mirror plate surface of reflective mirror plate to define alaterally disposed slit-shaped opening between a front edge of eachbaffle plate and the rear mirror plate surface of the reflective mirrorplate, wherein the hanger rib plates run perpendicular to the baffleplates, subdividing each reservoir compartment into threesub-compartments, wherein each hanger rib plate comprises a verticallyarranged series of spaced apart attachment hooks that protruderearwardly from the rear side of the mirror housing, wherein thereflective mirror plate is configured to conformally fit into the fronthousing opening, wherein the water reservoir is configured toconformally fit into the rear housing opening, and wherein eachreservoir compartment is configured to enable water to flow downwardlytowards the front reservoir compartment opening and through theslit-shaped opening and contact the rear mirror plate surface ofreflective mirror plate.
 17. The mirror assembly of claim 16, whereinthe number of the plurality of reservoir compartments is between 10 and14.
 18. The mirror assembly of claim 16, further comprises anillumination source and a light-transmissive window, the illuminationsource being located internally in the mirror housing and thelight-transmissive window being on the front side of the mirror housing,positioned around the perimeter of the reflective mirror plate, andconfigured to transmit light emitted by the illumination source out ofthe mirror housing in front of the reflective mirror plate.
 19. A mirrorassembly comprising a mirror housing, a reflective mirror plate, a waterreservoir, and an attachment system, the mirror housing having a topside and a bottom side opposite the top side, a left side and a rightside opposite the left side, and a front side and a rear side oppositethe front side, the front side including a front housing opening and therear side including a rear housing opening, the reflective mirror platehaving a front mirror plate surface and a rear mirror plate surface, thewater reservoir comprising between 9 and 15 reservoir compartmentsdefined by a vertical arranged series of downwardly angled baffle platesand two hanger rib plates, with each reservoir compartment having afront reservoir compartment opening adjacent to the rear mirror platesurface of the reflective mirror plate and a rear reservoir compartmentopening opposite the front reservoir compartment opening, wherein foreach reservoir compartment, the front reservoir compartment opening ispositioned at a lower elevation relative to the rear reservoircompartment opening, wherein each baffle plate is spaced rearward of therear mirror plate surface of reflective mirror plate to define alaterally disposed slit-shaped opening between a front edge of eachbaffle plate and the rear mirror plate surface of the reflective mirrorplate, wherein the hanger rib plates run perpendicular to the baffleplates, subdividing each reservoir compartment into threesub-compartments, wherein each hanger rib plate comprises a verticallyarranged series of spaced apart attachment hooks that protruderearwardly from the rear side of the mirror housing, the attachmentsystem comprising a wall-mount suspension bracket including a retainerrib configured to securely engage an attachment hook from each of thetwo hanger rib plates, wherein the reflective mirror plate is configuredto conformally fit into the front housing opening, wherein the waterreservoir is configured to conformally fit into the rear housingopening, and wherein each reservoir compartment is configured to enablewater to flow downwardly towards the front reservoir compartment openingand through the slit-shaped opening and contact the rear mirror platesurface of reflective mirror plate.
 20. The mirror assembly of claim 16,further comprises an attachment system, the attachment system comprisinga wall-mount suspension bracket including a retainer rib configured tosecurely engage an attachment hook from each of the two hanger ribplates.